Erik ten Hag reacts to Man Utd mauling Liverpool in pre-season friendly
Erik ten Hag has downplayed the significance of Manchester United's dominant 4-0 win over Liverpool in a pre-season friendly in Bangkok - their first outing under the Dutchman.
There had been huge anticipation about how United would perform in their first game under the former Ajax boss, and the early signs were encouraging against an understrength Liverpool side.
United blitzed the Reds, who fielded 32 players during the 90 minutes, in the first half, with a three-goal burst before half time effectively putting the game out of sight.
Jadon Sancho was the first player to score under Ten Hag, and his effort was followed up by sublime goals from Fred and Anthony Martial - back at the club after a failed loan spell at Sevilla.
Facundo Pellistri grabbed a fourth for United late on, and although Ten Hag admitted to being pleased with what he saw, he also highlighted the need to improve and appreciated that Liverpool's mass rotation had a huge bearing on the result.
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"I’m satisfied today," Ten Hag told MUTV. "It was a team with a great spirit and we know we are just getting started. We made some mistakes in the press, we conceded some chances, but we created a lot.
"We have to work hard to cut out the mistakes but, of course, we are happy. I know we have good players. We have started to build a team and I am happy with the first game.
"It will take a lot of time. I have seen a lot of mistakes. Liverpool played three teams, they were not at their strongest. We will not overestimate this result.
"But still, I have seen some really good things. A lot of speed and creativity up front."